Chiefs coach Middendorp praises ‘decorated coach’ Mosimane

Following his side’s win over Mamelodi Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp was full of praise for his counterpart, Pitso Mosimane.

READ: Chiefs open five-point gap after beating defending champions Sundowns

Amakhosi beat the Brazilians 2-0 to move five points clear at the top of the table at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday.

Prior to the game, Middendorp and Mosimane traded jibes, but the Chiefs coach hailed his counterpart after the game, labelling him a “decorated coach”.

“Let me make this clear with all this entertainment before the game, I think everybody in South Africa must understand, one of the most decorated coaches is Pitso Mosimane still, it doesn’t mean if they don’t win today, everybody should put into his skin, with his success, winning the Champions League, going to the [Fifa Club] World Cup, it’s unbelievable, I just wanted to make it very clear,” Middendorp told SuperSport TV after the game.

“He has a fantastic team, I know they won’t stop challenging for the league, it’s still early. We’re aware about it, we know exactly what to do. Good, what we’re trying to do is that the understanding of soccer is about ball possession, what you have, not done in a fantastic way today, it’s about defending, attacking, with numbers. Everybody has to be part of it.

“You can see with the front players, players at the back, everyone contributing, changes [are] coming [from Sundowns], with wide players like [Tebogo] Langerman, we don’t have to change, we do it as discussed before, we just have to shift in a different way and then it’s done. Compliments to my team and everybody who was part of the preparation. I think it was hard, it was tough but it went in our direction.”

Chiefs will meet Chippa United in the league on Wednesday before playing Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates in the Telkom Knockout quarterfinals at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.

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